Boxing as a Martial Art

I'd call it more a sort of dive than a crash, at least toward the end of his career, when he stopped trying to hide it.

 

You know, I don't come here often. So excuse me if I didn't realize this topic had been "done to death." And forgive me for trying to generate some discussion. Let me just say that for a forum that touts itself as "being one of the most welcoming and family forums on the web for the discussion of martial arts issues" this is the second time I have posted and received a somewhat less than welcoming and friendly response.

 

Perhaps using the search function would alleviate some of that

 

The problem you are having here is your approach. The original post was odd and difficult to answer because your indirectl bringing in the age old argument "is boxing a MA or a sport". That argument has been done to death on the interweb everywhere so yes it can get irritating.

Just to avoid that argument all together lets call boxing a system that involves head, arm, and foot movement for defense and hand (more specifically punches) as offence. Now are you asking is it good for self defense? If that's the case well that a different kettle of tea. Or are you asking is it a "complete" system. In which case the answer should be obvious. No its not.

As stated by many. Boxer punch hard. Really hard. Will that help in a physical altercation, most definitely. What I like about boxing is it's relatively simple in comparison to other arts so it doesn't take much time to become proficient in it. It also tend to have a training philosophy that make you get in their and test your self (sparring). This is not to say boxing is the only art that has this philosophy (muay thai and savate come to mind as well and may be a better option for you.)

If you want a complete system then maybe look into MMA or take up two arts like boxing/judo or muay thai/ ju jutsu.

 

Vicious and scary in groups. Timid and kind as individual.

 

I practice a hybrid M.A. that uses boxing as its main strikeing platform, I do a lot of shadow boxing and a lot of footwork drills. Regular Krate always left me feeling less than adequate at strikeing, my current system fills that gap.

The good old fashion basics will never fail to meet your needs, punching bag, shadow boxing and medicine ball will always be an essential part of becomeing a better boxer/striker.

I strongly suggest jogging for twenty to fortyfive minutes twice a week in addition to working core strength exorcizes daily. If you do this you will become a better boxer hands down.

 

Interesting observation. I've noticed that as well in certain socio-group dynamic environments.

 

I went back through the previous posts on this sub-forum for the past year and guess what? No posts on this topic.

 

Thanks man! At least there is one actual "friendly" person here! But I'm now inclined to spend my time elsewhere. And I know what the "unfriendly" people are thinking...."good riddance" and "no great loss!"...etc. But that's certainly not how you build a forum community! Just sayin......

 

Is boxing a set of techniques or a set of rules?

Haven't the common techniques of boxing changed as the rules have over time?

So, if you were to have boxing without rules, wouldn't you first have to reverse-engineer the techniques to find what is a result of the rules, and what is universally applicable?

Maybe that's a bit too philosophical, but wouldn't it look like a hybrid system with boxing in it? Like Vunak's JKD or most MMA fighters?

 

I think boxing training gives you the ability to attempt to move and hit with power,defend, counter and such , in a way that when there are no rules or less rules or whatever it's called,those fundamentals will come out within that situation. It won't be perfect but the basics will be there.
It's then up to the individual to make it effective or how imaginative or violent they are. One person might try to absolutely adhere to boxing etiquette simply because of their nature might be and they havnt been in many real situations.
Another might be more imaginative and nasty and be 'dirty', seeing an opportunity to elbow or headbutt or grab, or bounce a head off the wall or whatever. But I would say for both to do that they need the timing,speed,control etc and experience that's come from the boxing training.

Also it's worth thinking that great boxer's do alot of sneaky things like manipulating or controlling hands or shoulder pushes or elbow or head dinks, that are subtle but enough to create space or put an opponent off for a split second to then take advantage of. These things are worth noting and studying.

 

Boxing can be a very effective self protection platform. Punching is a virtually universal method of assaulting someone and being able to do that better than he guy attacking you is a massive advantage. It's not a complete system by any means but it can be potent if trained well and used with a liberal dose of common sense.

I have used boxing skills in a number of situations (working doors, being assaulted and once to dodge a seagull) and they most definately work outside of the ring. Punching hurts more without gloves (that's on both ends of the punch) and covering up without gloves requires some adaptations but there are flaws in all other martial arts aswell. Taking off the gloves doesn't change that much tbh, a KO is a KO any way you cut it.

If you started this thread because you were wondering how to 'box for the street' then I would say learn to box well first and cross train to cover any gaps you feel your skill set May have. How to clash heads and sneaky elbows won't do much for you compared to actual head buts and properly thrown elbows. Why not just learn those techniques and throw the most appropriate strike for the opportunity?

As has been said before one of the best selling points boxing has for fighting ability is the no nonsense approach to training, look at other arts that train similarly (eg Muay Thai, kickboxing, mma etc) all are well respected as routes to develop your fighting skills. Training 'street' techniques without a realistic training approach will not make you a better fighter. Well trained sport fighter > poorly trained 'street' fighter.

 

No Simon. I didn't expect everyone to agree with me. I just asked a simple question to generate discussion and the general response seems to be that I must be stupid for even asking the question to begin with! So I went to the Martial Talk forum and posted the exact same question. The differences in response is like night and day! So I do think you really need to take a look at your "most welcoming forum" description because I haven't felt very welcome here now on two different occasions. I'll be spending my time where I do actually feel welcome! Thanks anyway!

 

Have some cake

 

Bye then

For the record even a casual "street vs sport" search brings up a plethora of results